Former FEC chairman warns campaign finance overhaul would limit free speech
A former Federal Elections Commission chairman is sounding the alarm on a “misguided” bill that aims to overhaul the nation’s campaign finance system to limit the influence of wealthy donors and “dark money,” warning it would instead limit free speech
“This is a massive — actually — expansion of government regulation of the speech of groups who spend money,” Bradley Smith, chairman of the Institute for Free Speech, said during a Zoom press conference held Tuesday with the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance.
Smith, who served as FEC chairman from 2004 to 2005, said the campaign finance changes included in a 791-page Democratic-backed bill dubbed the For the People Act would implement a 6-to-1 match for small-dollar donations, restructure the Federal Election Commission, strengthen the prohibition against super PAC-candidate coordination, create new rules for online political ads and attempt to end “dark money” in U.S. elections.
Smith, a First Amendment-rights advocate, said the federal bill would remove the bipartisan makeup of the FEC and mandate that taxpayers would fund future political campaigns, essentially a bailout for politicians.
He estimated the 6:1 matching funds for small donations in federal elections could amount to “several billions of dollars” in an average election year. It would be funded through fees, such as those on corporate malfeasance — but Smith contended the money still counts as “taxpayer dollars.”
“Campaign finance law agencies should never become a partisan witch hunt shop, but that is exactly what would happen under this misguided legislation. It would break up the bi-partisan makeup of the FEC and make it into a politicized attack agency,” Paul Diego Craney, spokesperson for MassFiscal, said in a statement after Tuesday’s press conference. He added Bay State Democrats would benefit.
The federal bill aims to increase voter access, bolster election integrity and security and overhaul campaign finance and ethics. It would expand voter registration with automatic and same-day registration and vote-by-mail and early voting, among other reforms.
The legislation passed the House on March 3, but is being stymied in the Senate by Republicans who oppose the bill.
from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3fKpOid
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